Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS) — an uncrewed airship, plane or balloon watching over Earth from the stratosphere. Operating like satellites but from closer to Earth, HAPS are the ‘missing link’ between drones flying close to Earth’s surface and satellites orbiting in space.

Global satellite navigation systems are continuously bathing Earth in satnav signals. As well as helping in our daily lives, these signals are also tools for cutting-edge science. A new ESA facility, based at ESA’s astronomy centre near Madrid, is championing their use for everything from Earth monitoring to fundamental physics.

Europe’s 26 navigation satellites in orbit are providing Galileo Initial Services – available to users around the globe since 2016 – and a new ESA contract signing means these services will be delivered on a more accurate basis and more securely than ever.

Students and research trainees across Europe are invited to take part in ESA’s new Galileo smartphone app competition – to develop an app capable of performing fixes using raw Galileo satnav measurements.

Run by ESA in collaboration with the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency – GSA – plus the European Commission with the support of Google, this Galileo app competition is open to all students from European universities and trainees in posts at European research and development organisations.

With Europe’s Galileo constellation in space now expanded to 26 navigation satellites – and Galileo Initial Services available to users worldwide – the infrastructure on the ground that controls them is undergoing a corresponding expansion.

If you’ve taken a flight in Europe recently, then the chances are growing that you’ve been a pioneer EGNOS user. Satellites in orbit would have guided your airliner’s descent, rather than signals beamed from the ground. You wouldn’t have felt any difference – except for possibly a smoother ride.

The last four Galileo satellites of the second FOC (Full Operational Capability) batch are scheduled for launch on 25 July at 11:25 GMT (13:25 CEST, 08:25 local time) from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on an Ariane 5 rocket, designated Flight VA244 by Arianespace.

Europe’s satellite navigation system Galileo is already in use worldwide, usable by itself or in combination with the US Global Positioning System (GPS). Now a combined Galileo–GPS positioning fix has been achieved in space – aboard the International Space Station – through an ESA–NASA collaboration.

ESA challenged its young graduate and national trainees to develop a smartphone app to perform satnav fixes using only Galileo satellites. Three teams developed apps in their spare time, presenting their results to a jury of experts from ESA, the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA) and Google.

]]>16fc99a26b13c052e8842ec2c2993ce8Fri, 15 Jun 2018 13:33:00 +0200Galileo liftoff replay
Watch the replay of Europe’s next four Galileo satellites lifting off at 11:25 GMT (13:25 CEST, 08:25 local time) on Wednesday 25 July
]]>7eb75cf22572957e360ae352b5727701Wed, 25 Jul 2018 12:50:00 +0200Galileo's road to space
Video highlights of the launch campaign putting Galileo satellites 23–26 into orbit
]]>c539f2dee4c76e7a2f4652811680319fWed, 25 Jul 2018 17:58:00 +0200Galileo replay part 1
Rewatch the full coverage of the liftoff and early ascent of Europe’s next four Galileo satellites 23–26
]]>a242024091c1b71516aba993549d1a56Wed, 25 Jul 2018 14:18:00 +0200Galileo’s next step
A new video gives the background to the launch of the next four Galileo satellites, the next step to expand Europe’s own satellite navigation system
]]>856d104e0c629f758961e840a97a6ba2Mon, 23 Jul 2018 14:03:00 +0200Galileos in the sky
Technology image of the week: Galileo satellites ‘seen’ in augmented reality, using a new Galileo-focused smartphone app developed by ESA engineers
]]>3488690a70a5889f9227996b7f6c7887Wed, 11 Jul 2018 09:50:00 +0200Galileo, inside out
Technology image of the week: an entire Galileo satellite was taken apart then put back together on this test bench for laboratory testing
]]>180454ba7d7c5530d509fb7f63f263dfThu, 07 Jun 2018 16:30:00 +0200Testing Galileo
Each Galileo satellite must go through a rigorous test campaign to assure its readiness for space
]]>724a7794df47fe80a05ae786ceec6bbaMon, 31 Jul 2017 14:39:00 +0200EGNOS for safer skies
This new video explains how the ESA-designed EGNOS satnav augmentation system is making European aircraft landings even safer
]]>07bfe04ec560a3a24f76a744de9ebe4dFri, 12 Feb 2016 14:05:00 +0100Navipedia
Visit Navipedia, the web’s leading resource on satellite navigation: http://www.navipedia.net
]]>dabc5dd424f1b8ca342eaf38fddfaf2aFri, 20 Sep 2013 14:26:00 +0200Salvage in space
A detailed guide to the recovery of Galileos 5 and 6
]]>d7efe203553d4cee9614e2cfc3c7ae82Wed, 08 Jul 2015 10:15:00 +0200